unmissable
by anonymousjane
Summary: BA Angelus has been institutianalised since he was 7, and was found without any memory of his life before killed his father. one of the psychiatrists for the criminally insane in this ward is of course Buffy. Can she help him?


**A/N: Hey there. So recently, I had to reinstall windows on my computer… or more accurately, I got my brother to reinstall windows for me… and since then I haven't been able to get my other saved fanfiction stories or plots back yet to update… so until then, I've decided to start work on yet another Buffy/Angel fanfiction. I hope you enjoy it.**

**A/N 2: As with any of my stories, if anyone wants anything added I will seriously consider it, be it a pairing or something a character says at some point. I like challenges. Also, if anyone wants me to write more of a particular genre or give a character a bigger/smaller part or something, just ask, k?**

**I DISCLAIM EVERYTHING. NOTICE MY DISCLAIMLINESS!!!**

**This story was actually inspired a bit by Gothika, so any similarities: I disclaim them too!**

**UNMISSABLE: Prologue;**

Sam Johnson and Derek Frank sat alone in the police car parked at the side of the deserted road. The silence within it was a comfortable one, broken only by the rustling of paper bags as they snacked on their stereotypical doughnut deserts, and the pounding drops of rain outside the car, as it fell heavily onto the road and windows with wet splats.

Derek was as usual the first to finish his midnight snack, patting his rounded stomach and licking his lips satisfactorily before unceremoniously dropping the now empty bag to the floor by his feet.

He then reached to one of the Styrofoam cups sitting on the dashboard, containing their much needed coffee, and peeled the plastic lid off before pouring the piping hot liquid down his throat, relishing the warmth on such a freezing cold day.

He sat back in his seat, still holding the steaming cup in his hands, and looked out of the window. It was a dark night. It seemed as though the moon itself was hiding and the only light came from the twin sets of headlights that pierced through the gloom all around them.

Turning back towards his partner, he grinned and gestured towards his still only half-eaten doughnut.

"Ya need a hand with that, Sam my man?" he asked, and laughed as his partner, whose mouth was too full to reply verbally, instead answered using his middle finger and a raised eyebrow. Though the look failed to be as menacing as it was no doubt intended to be as crumbs fell down his chin and muffled sounds of protest made their way from his mouth.

Derek shook his head amusedly and took another gulp from his coffee.

Sam and Derek had been partners for a very long time, about eleven years now, and in all the time that they had known each-other, not once had Sam been able to finish a doughnut faster than Derek. In fact, not many people could. Derek ate at an almost inhumanly fast rate. It was as if he didn't even bother with chewing his food, before swallowing it whole.

However, pretty soon, Sam too managed to finish off his quick meal, taking a long sip from his coffee before placing it back in its holder, and starting the car up again.

Rain pounded fiercely against the window screen and he had to turn the wipers on at full speed to be able to see anything out of it at all.

Sam knew from experience that this weather was dangerous. The road was slippery and wet, and it didn't help any that it was pitch black outside and he could hardly see ten metres in front of them. But he wasn't worried. He was an experienced driver, and he was confident that he knew what he was doing. He knew not to take risks were lives were concerned.

They were in no rush to get anywhere. They hadn't had a call out from the radio in quite a while now, and it was looking to be a quiet night.

And so he remained cautious, he concentrated on the road ahead of him as he guided the car along the straight road, taking care to pay special attention as they began to drive along the road near to the cliff edge. The cliff wasn't a serious one. There weren't very many massive cliffs in this area. It could still cause some serious damage if he were to loose control of the car, but if he lost control of the car anywhere it could cause serious damage, so he supposed it didn't really make much of a difference.

Derek was casually sitting back in his seat, as usual not really paying any attention to where they were going. He took his final sip of coffee before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and dropping the empty cup to the floor to join his recently discarded paper bag.

Sam rolled his eyes at his partner, receiving a smirk in return, before returning his gaze to the road ahead of them. They were driving round a curve now, still on the edge of the cliff. He kept both hands securely on the wheel, trying to ignore Derek's absent minded humming as he attempted to navigate the vehicle safely around the bend in the road. He found himself wondering just how high up they were on this cliff. If he were to lean over just a little bit more; he would be able to see down to----

"ST MAN! LOOK OUT!" Derek suddenly screamed, grabbing the dashboard and roughly pulling on his shoulder at the same time.

Sam's eyes widened in shock. He barely had time to register that there was something in the middle of the road, before he jerked the steering wheel to the right, sending the car squealing over in another direction. He frantically stomped down on the brake as hard as he could, pulling the steering wheel in the other direction, cursing the wet road as the car slipped dangerously close to the ledge on the other side of the road.

Sam could do nothing as the car wheels failed to grip onto the road and their vehicle sped closer and closer to the cliff edge.

Both police officers screamed in panic as they felt the front wheels careen off the edge of the cliff and…

.Stop.

Neither man dared to move. They sat paralysed, breathing harshly and gripping the dashboard and steering wheel alike with white knuckles and even whiter faces.

Slowly, Sam's breathing somewhat calmed, although his heart was still pounding somewhere in his throat, and he managed to sit up slightly and peer carefully out of the front window to what should have been nothing but air.

What they had in fact landed on was actually a set of large grey rocks, embedded into the side of the cliff. The front wheels of the police car had slipped over the edge of the cliff, only to jam down onto the rocks, effectively catching the runaway vehicle and saving them from almost certain doom.

Relief washed over him as he realised just how incredibly, unbelievably lucky they were. For the moment he forgot all about hoe precariously balanced they were on the edge of the cliff, and found himself unable to stop the completely inappropriate laughter that burst from him. He was incapable of stopping for quite a while, laughing until tears stung at his eyes and he heard Derek's string of obscenities, before eventually sighing and collapsing back into his seat.

"Man, we are two lucky sons-of-a-bs!" he exclaimed, holding a hand to his head.

Hell, if that's what you wanna call it," Derek replied, smiling slightly before sobering and adding seriously;

"Man I don't know where he came from, but I sure as hell hope we didn't hit him!"

Then he was out of the car, and running through the downpour of rain out to the road.

"Him?!" Sam called out, getting out of the car and clambering up to follow him, "Waddya mean 'him'?!"

Derek didn't answer, but he didn't need to, Sam immediately saw whom he meant.

There, standing in the middle of the road, was a small boy. Couldn't have been more than 7 years old, just standing there, still as stone in the pouring rain. His hair was a matted, sopping mess of dark brown and his thin frame was covered only in a pair of tattered old trousers.

The boy's hands were by his sides and his eyes were vacant as he watched the two men approach.

Derek looked back at Sam quickly before calling out to the boy, "Hey, little buddy, what're you doing out here?"

The boy didn't react in any way, remaining as he was. The police officers were close enough now to see the boy shivering harshly in the cold.

"C'mon little guy, it's dangerous out here," Derek continued, slowly removing his jacket.

At this, the boy blinked, his first movement in their presence. His face then seemed to crease up as he frowned. The next moment, he had thrown his head back and was laughing maniacally. Sam backed up a step as the unexpected sound reached his ears, startling him.

Derek was the first to recover, rushing forward and dropping to his knees where he wrapped his jacket around the hysterical boy. Immediately, the boy stopped laughing, lowering his head and staring the police officer in the eyes. He did not move away from Derek, simply stood there, once again not moving, though this time, it was the boy's gaze that unnerved the officer as he looked up at him. Derek was the first to break eye contact, looking down momentarily. It was then that he noticed the blood.

The boy was covered in it. Even in the absence of light, Derek was amazed that he hadn't seen it before. The sticky red and brown covered the boys skin, soaking into the material of his trousers and dripping to the road under them. Even the heavy rain pouring down on them both wasn't enough to wash the blood from the boys skin.

"My God, boy! What the hell happened to you?" Derek exclaimed, horrified at what he was seeing.

The boy grinned wildly and slowly shook his head at the officer, before uttering his first two words in the officers' presence;

"Not me…" His voice was quiet and scratchy, but both policemen could make out the words as if they had been yelled.

Derek looked back at Sam, and shook his head in bewilderment. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, and the only thing that he could think of to do was get help. Quickly, he reached for his radio…

"…7 years old, found in the middle of a road by two police officers…"

Wilow Rosenburg read from the open case file on the table in front of her.

"…Covered in blood, some his, some not… "

"is there an assessment of his emotional state in there?"

Willow looked up and across the table to her friend and colleague, Buffy Summers; "Well, there wasn't antone qualified to make the assessment at the time, but the officers involved stated that the boy appeared 'unstable." She answered, glancing briefly at the notes.

"So who was he?" Buffy asked, and listened as Willow once again read from the case file.

"It was later discovered tat the boy was named Angelus Romano, son of Liam Romano, however, when officials were sent to contact the parents, the father was discovered murdered in the front living room of their house.." Willow paused and looked at Buffy.

"Did you want to see the photos?" She asked, uneasiness clear in her voice.

Buffy shook her head. ! don't think it's necessary right now. She replied, not missing the relieved look on her friends face as she carefully tucked the envelope back into the file and continued reading.

"His throat was slit, forensics indicated that the boy was responcible for the mmurder. When questionned about the incident, it was discovered that the boy was suffering from a form of amnesia. He remembered nothing of his life until after the incident. At this point, the boy was institutionalised. Marks of bruises and inguries to the boy led doctors to believe that combined with severe mental traume, the patients amnesia was also a result of disassociation during abuse. The fact that he does not remember any of what happened makes him a difficult patient.

Doctors where able to give him a voice through art, but unfortunately, that voice spoke only of murder ad violence. The paintings are often of said incident. It is believed that he is plagued by memories in the form of violent nightmares and delusions…"Willow's voice trailed off

"Do you see why I don't want to take this one?" She asked Buffy pointedly.

Buffy sighed patiently, "But you've had violent cases before, right?"

"Well yeah…I guess……"

"And the incident was like, what, 19 years ago? There has to have been some progress with it!"

"That's the thing!" Willow explained, "I don't know that there has. I mean, the whole time that I was talking to him, he just stared at me. You know that I'm not easily disturbed Buffy, but this guy _scares_ me!"

Buffy looked at her doubtfully, her resolve fading. Seeing this, Willow immediately put on her puppy dog look and pouted at her best friend.

"Pleeeeease, Buffy?"

Buffy sighed. "Oh alright, I'll take the case." She relented.

**Okay, so there ya go. The prologue to my story. For those of you who were hoping for some Buffy/Angel interaction, soz, but I had to set up the story first. The BA interaction comes next chapter, I promise! -As well as the explanation for the title, lol.**

**Any suggestions, requests or challenges, please feel free to ask.**

**And please, please review.**

**The more reviews I get, the more I feel inclined to update- and quickly!**

**Luv Angie**

**x**


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